Man charged in 2015 sexual battery

Gainesville Police charged a man Thursday with the sexual battery of a 7-year-old girl in 2015, police records show.

Benjamin Franklin Jackson III, 44, a sexual offender, was also charged with failing to report his address, the arrest report said.

According to the report, the victim disclosed to her mother and during a forensic interview that Jackson had battered her at his residence on an inflatable mattress. Police obtained a search warrant and found the mattress, the report said.

In October 2016, Jackson signed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement “Notice of Sexual Predator and Sexual Offender Obligations” which states he must register his status as a sex offender in person at the DHSMV within 48 hours of any change in his permanent, temporary or transient residence.

After being read his rights, Jackson admitted to staying at his wife’s home several nights a week for the past six months and staying places other than his permanent, registered address. He was held in the Alachua County Jail Friday in lieu of $350,000 bond.